Often when small children ride in an automobile, they are placed in a child seat, which is placed upon the seat of the automobile. The child seat normally includes a set of seat belts, which secure the child. The child seat is, in turn, normally secured to the automobile in some fashion utilizing the seat belts, which are permanently attached inside the vehicle. But the standard seat belts for an automobile are designed to secure an adult to the seat of an automobile, rather than a child seat. Consequently, the child seat must be deigned to accommodate being secured to the automobile with any of several different types of restraining means available in differing automobiles. These include but are not limited to lap belts, shoulder belts, combined lap and shoulder belts, and the like.
Accordingly, what is needed is a child seat that is designed to integrate directly to fastening devices mounted to the passenger seat that are separate from the normal passenger restraint system. One answer to this need can be found in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,243 to Anthony et al., the disclosure of which is specifically incorporated into this specification by reference. The present invention is another answer.
In one aspect, this invention is a web adjuster to use in a seat belt device. This web adjuster has a cylindrical bar with a generally oval to round cross-section and a pair of ears mounted near each of its ends that are crosswise to its longitudinal axis; a web extending at least partially around the bar, a frame with a pair of channels in which the ears of the bar may slide, and one or more mechanical springs to normally push the bar toward the web stop and against the web.
In another aspect, this invention is a child restraining device for mounting in the passenger seat of a vehicle that has at least one rigid member fixedly mounted in the bite between the passenger seat""s seat portion and back portion. In particular, the child restraining device of this invention has a child seat and at least one coupling to attach the child seat to the rigid member. The coupling is characterized by a frame having a notch on its distal end with a mouth/seat that is adapted to receive the fixedly mounted rigid member and a lever that is pivotally mounted inside the frame to hold the rigid member inside the mouth. The lever has a downwardly projecting finger that blocks the mouth of the notch when moved in one direction and allows access to the mouth when moved in the other direction. The coupling is further characterized by a biasing means to hold the coupling in a normally closed position and a means, such as the above-described web adjuster, for securing the coupling to the child seat.
In yet another aspect, this invention is a child-restraining device for mounting in the passenger seat of a vehicle that has at least one rigid member fixedly mounted in the bite between the passenger seat""s seat portion and back portion. In particular, the child-restraining device of this invention has a child seat and at least one rotary coupling to attach the child seat to the rigid member. The rotary coupling is characterized by a rigid hollow cylinder with two notches in one end, a piston that slides back and forth inside the cylinder, a spring to push the piston toward the notches; a means to prevent the piston from sliding out of the cylinder, and a means, such as the above-described web adjuster, for securing the rotary coupling to the child seat.